V. Elaine Gross

V. Elaine Gross, President of Erase Racism.

"Ms. Gross has nearly 30 years of experience in research, program development and evaluation at public and private agencies in the U.S. Throughout her career, Ms. Gross has focused on exploring the systemic causes of social, political, and economic inequities and finding ways to counteract those inequities. While working in Boston, she developed and managed human service delivery systems and tenant advocacy initiatives for the Boston Housing Authority; was Vice President for Programs at the Urban League; and was Community Relations Director of the Lead Free Kids Project at Boston Health and Hospitals. She was Deputy Director of the Boston Housing Partnership, a premier public/private partnership supporting community development and affordable housing in fragile inner-city neighborhoods. She earned her MSW from Boston University , with a focus on policy, planning, and non-profit management. Subsequently, in New York, Ms. Gross served as a Program Officer for the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock and developed a portfolio of grants across the U.S. focused on human rights and economic development. She then served as the founding Executive Director of Sustainable America, a New York-based national NGO that promoted sustainable, equitable development practices and policies. Ms. Gross was hired by the Long Island Community Foundation to launch the ERASE Racism Initiative in June 2001. Ms. Gross has successfully led ERASE Racism, bringing together a cross section of Long Island leaders to discuss and formulate remedies to persistent regional inequities, resulting from imbedded institutional racism in health, education, and housing. In 2004, ERASE Racism became an independent New York State not-for-profit corporation.

"Ms. Gross serves on the six-member Long Island Regional Planning Board, appointed by the Nassau County Executive and approved by the Nassau Legislature. She also services on the Executive Committee of Sustainable Long Island board of directors. She serves on the board of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, on the Advisory Board of Vital Signs at Adelphi University, and on the Advisory Committee of Long Island Index."